‘It’s a powerful symbol:’ Idaho’s Liberty Bell is back on tour and coming to your county

In May 1950, Idaho’s very own version of the Liberty Bell arrived in the Gem State. 

Nearly a year later, the bell found its home: Sitting prominently in front of grand steps leading up to the Idaho State Capitol — and being loudly rung by passersby.

But before it was mounted at the state’s Capitol, the bell toured the state on the back of a pickup truck. And as Americans commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday this year, Idaho’s Liberty Bell is headed back on tour. 

“We want to have people experience the birth of a nation,” Idaho Treasurer Julie Ellsworth said in an interview. “… We want a memorable thing that touches every place of Idaho.”

The tour starts Wednesday with a round of stops in East Idaho, starting in Pocatello and working its way further east, before visiting each of the state’s 44 counties.

But how did Idaho even get its own version of the Liberty Bell? 

The bell — modeled after the cracked original in Philadelphia that has become a national symbol — was one of many cast and given to states in an effort to sell U.S. savings bonds, according to a history of the bell prepared by the Idaho State Historical Society. 

Trucking a state artifact

This will be one of the few instances — outside of its recent restoration — when Idaho’s Liberty Bell has left its home at the Capitol.

State officials designed this tour to mimic the original tour of the bell from 76 years ago. 

On its journey across Idaho, the state’s Liberty Bell will sit on the rear axle of a flatbed Ford F-450 pickup. The state is leasing the custom truck for free from Kendall Ford, an auto dealer in the Boise area, Ellsworth said. 

The new truck has a few more bells and whistles than the original truck had — like enhanced suspension and Spudjamin Franklin, one of many “Revolutionary Spuds” that the state treasurer created to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary. 

But it’s also missing something that the original truck, a custom Ford R-5 flatbed, had: a loudspeaker, which was used to promote the sale of U.S. savings bonds, according to Janet Gallimore, the executive director of the Idaho State Historical Society, which cares for the state’s artifacts and helped plan the bell’s recent restoration.

“I … just love the symbology of the bell and what it means, what it meant for obviously the beginnings of our country and the founding of our country, but what that idea of liberty, justice, self-government means to people today. Because it’s a powerful symbol of those things that make us American,” she said in an interview. 

On the road, the bell will be encased in a cloth cover. At its stops in each county, it will remain on the bed of the truck for display. 

When will Idaho’s Liberty Bell be near you?

Officials aren’t releasing a daily schedule of where the bell will be in each town at a given time until closer to the dates. But Ellsworth says every child that they see on this tour will get a copy of Spudjamin Franklin’s new graphic novel-styled autobiography, which she wrote. Ellsworth said she’ll try to join the tour as much as she can.

“It is so symbolic of everything about liberty,” she said of the bell. “But it’s tangible. It’s touchable. It’s understandable.”

On Wednesday, the bell will make its journey from Boise to Pocatello — before beginning a nearly three-week tour across East Idaho. 

Here’s a few key dates to watch:

• On Saturday, Sept. 5, the bell will be at the Eastern Idaho State Fair Parade in Blackfoot. 
• On Friday, Sept. 11, the bell will be at the America250 in Idaho Freedom Festival in Idaho Falls.
• On Saturday, Oct. 24, the bell will be in Moscow for University of Idaho’s homecoming
• On Saturday, Nov. 14, the bell will be in Boise for the Veterans Day Parade

After it first arrived in Idaho in 1950, the bell toured the state and was put on exhibit at the Idaho State Museum, before finding its permanent home in front of the Idaho State Capitol on Nov. 19, 1951.

That’s the same day this year that state officials plan to bring the bell back home.